In our 2023 Trends to Watch article, we discussed how technology solutions continue to pop up from the multiple “band-aid” solutions teams applied, making integrating our MarCom technology stack more of a challenge. The pandemic created an urgency to become more agile, adapt business processes and even consider innovative or unique solutions. Most teams introduced new technology options as a result over the past three years – but are now rethinking how these platforms work together and if they can be optimized to support future growth. We sat with Micky Singh, who leads the talented tech team at the4D.ca, to talk about what clients should consider. I have called upon his team many times to fix tech issues.
Q. What is the most common MarCom stack issue NFP clients contact you to discuss?
Micky: The most common issue we see from clients is the difficulty they have choosing the right technology stack for their business. As a nonprofit, you’re looking for technologies that not only increase your efficiency and effectiveness but also have a positive impact on your mission. The problem is choice: There’s too much of it. The task of understanding which technology investment is the right one is a daunting one, so much so that it can lead to indecisiveness and missteps in many cases. Budget plays a big role as well; many low-cost products can seem attractive but often end up being of short-term use and a throw-away solution. For example, a team is excited about a new fundraising idea or campaign and works with an existing technology partner to build a new site quickly. Initially, it provides the functionality and analytics they needed but months later, as changes are made to the MarCom stack, they discover that it was created with temporary band-aids or tape to connect things together. Now that needs and requirements have evolved and changed, the site no longer works properly and because it was built as a piecemeal solution, needs to be rebuilt costing more money and negatively impacting the mission. Not surprisingly, nonprofits are upset and disappointed by this experience.
Q. How can nonprofits avoid making technology selection mistakes moving forward?
A. By having the right technology partner and by that I mean a partner that understands your business goals and objectives, the resources at your disposal, the expertise you have, and how you operate. Such a technology partner helps to define a technical vision, draw up a path and then find the best cost-efficient solution that fits the plan. Most nonprofits, and it’s not just nonprofits by the way, tend to think that the most cost-effective approach is to divide the creative ideas from the technology builds and take them on separately. As a result, they often end up working with multiple partners that are generating many different efforts (social media outreach, fundraising campaigns, advocacy efforts, etc.) that aren’t necessarily coordinated, leading to inefficient outcomes and higher costs. A single, knowledgable technology partner can streamline all efforts and work with any and all of your existing partners to ensure your technology stack follows compliance standards (i.e. PIPEDA, AODA, Security, SEO, etc.), fits within the organizational goals, and ensures that the stack is lean, robust and adaptable.
Q. Most small to mid-sized NFPs do not have in-house expertise on the latest tech? How should a NFP assess their MarCom stack and when should they consider bringing in outside expertise?
A. The best approach is to conduct an audit to understand exactly where they currently are, from a tech perspective. An audit would evaluate all the components of the MarCom stack and determine how well they:
a) Integrate with each other
b) Help achieve organizational goals
c) Streamline workflows for greater efficiency
d) Provide a positive user experience
The audit results will go a long way in determining when and what type of outside help needs to be brought in. Some considerations would include:
a) Reduce IT costs without sacrificing user experience
b) Looking to make improvements
c) Looking for innovative solutions
Often nonprofits set up contracts for preferred technology support partners on a 1-3 year cycle. That enables them to tap into the expertise they need when they need it. However, such partners work in their own silos, again leading to the familiar problem of fixing one problem while potentially creating another. Having a single technology partner who not only understands the issues but also works proactively with the other partners to ensure all efforts are coordinated and working toward common goals goes a long way to preventing future problems.
Q. What are the biggest challenges facing nonprofits as they look to optimize the stack for future growth? What are some of your clients wanting to add to it in the next 3 yrs?
A. The way technology is changing, so quickly and so radically, is definitely the biggest challenge nonprofits face today. After all, if you’re not up to date with your tech, it’s difficult to achieve your goals and that applies to for-profits as well as nonprofits. Within the scope of technology, some of the biggest challenges facing nonprofits are:
a) Security – Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lack the in-house expertise or external counsel in this area. They also underestimate the threat, believing they are too small to be a target. Cyber Security is a business necessity and doesn’t need to be complex.
b) SEO Performance or Page Speed – Page speed is a critical element of any MarCom strategy, especially now that most people access the Internet via a mobile device. A study by Cloud Flare showed the importance of the connection between page speed and the website conversion rate, and if a webpage takes longer than 4 seconds to load on a mobile device, the conversion rate drops to less than 1%. As both Google and Bing implement new mechanisms to “make the web faster”, they have been releasing a raft of different initiatives to help webmasters build their websites with speed in mind. The incentive: The faster a web page is, the greater the chance of it ranking higher. Nonprofits are often not able to keep up-to-date with new rules and changes in this space.
c) Accessibility / AODA – Under the Information and Communications Standards, businesses in Ontario must make websites, including web-based apps, compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA. Fortunately, there are plenty of great accessibility tools available, however, they cannot test for every accessibility barrier. Most automated testing tools will only account for about 40% of errors, which may contain false positives and false negatives. This is why manual testing is also required and critical to ensure the site is compliant. Most nonprofits and agencies we have worked with are unaware of the process that needs to be followed in order to conduct manual testing.
d) Maintenance – Due to a number of reasons, many nonprofits and small businesses find themselves stuck in a rut of continuously addressing ongoing tech issues, fixing one problem only to have another crop up immediately after. Not only does this create operational headaches, it’s also a drain on resources, eating up parts of the budget that can be used to further organizational or business goals.
e) Reporting – There’s never been a time before when you could know so much about your business, your clients, your services, who you’re reaching and who you need to reach. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, which is also the problem. Many nonprofits are drowning in information that they’re unable to take advantage of, due to conflicting reporting systems, outdated technology or simply the inability to process large volumes of data because they’re using the wrong technology. Again, it’s a headache that can be fixed by understanding how to generate relevant reporting and have it presented in a digestible manner. That way, you have an overview of your organization and what you need to do to achieve goals and targets.
Over the next 3 years, our clients want to leverage emerging technologies in order to increase efficiency throughout the organization. Some of these technologies include: ChatGPT, Conversational Chatbots, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Reporting Dashboards, Leveraging Cloud Computing and Digital Fundraising. These are all large topics that we can cover in future posts.
Q. Who do you feel should be using your services?
A. I would say nonprofits and small to medium-sized businesses. Look, there’s no getting away from the fact that we live in a technology-driven world. If your tech isn’t functioning properly or up to date, then you’re operating in an environment of diminishing returns. And trying to tackle each issue on its own by using piecemeal solutions can end up becoming very expensive while delivering inconsistent results.
Now, big organizations and by that I mean the large banks, multinationals, etc., don’t need to worry too much about this; they have huge budgets and internal IT teams in place to deal specifically with these types of problems.
Additionally, they also have access to technology partners that are as big as they are, with correspondingly large fees and charges. Nonprofits and small to medium-sized businesses aren’t so lucky. They have the same needs and requirements, suffer from the same types of issues but don’t have the same budgets.
That’s where we come in. We have the expertise, the know-how and the experience to provide the solutions and services they need to stay competitive, but at a reasonable cost that fits their budget. Having the right technology partner means you can concentrate on achieving your goals and hitting your targets, not worrying about what technology you need to do it. That’s our job.